Time and Time Again
by Julia-Caesar
Summary: Two years after graduation and Fiyero and Elphaba run into each other in the Emerald City, much to the displeasure of Elphaba. Post Shiz-era, Fiyeraba, AU, Multi-chapter fic.
1. Chapter 1

**Two things to start off with, One: No, this is not the infamous (yes, infamous, hehe) Fiyeraba I've been fighting with Elphaba and Fiyero to write. This is just something I dreamt up and jotted down. And two, no, this is not going to be a multi-chapter fic unless like... twenty million people want a second chapter, lol. This is, at least until I finished my other Fiyeraba, just a simple one-shot.**

**WARNING: THIS IS MY FIRST COMPLETELY SERIOUS-WITHOUT BEING OVERLY ANGST-IFIED- FIYERABA ONE-SHOT.**

**Reviews will sooner release Elphie and Fifi from the closet! =)**

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><p>The Emerald City was as busy as ever, preparing for the Wonderful Wizard of Oz parade. People were setting up stands to sell masks, to apply face-paint, and to buy puppets and other trinkets.<p>

Elphaba Thropp was shoving her way through the massive crowds, determined to get away from the festivities. She'd change a lot in the two years that had passed since she'd graduated from Shiz, but one thing that remained the same was her dislike for celebration.

People stared, as they always did, at her green, sickly, skin. She ignored them, of course, as she had her entire life.

Finally, she reached the smallest coffee shop in town, _Rosy Memories_, and ordered her tea, before sitting in the same booth she'd been sitting in every morning for a year.

The place was unusually crowded, most likely due to tourists coming into the Emerald City for the celebrations that were beginning to take place. The lights were dim enough that nobody in the shop would notice her skin color unless they were to stand directly in front of her, which she preferred. Soft piano music played through the speakers of the room, causing Elphaba to subconsciously tap her fingers against the smooth wooden table as she stared out the window.

"Excuse me, would it be alright if I joined you? The other tables are awfully crowdidified," a voice requested, automatically making Elphaba jumped. She looked up to see a face she thought she'd never see again.

"Galinda?" she exclaimed.

"Elphie?" Galinda replied. Elphaba immediately jumped up to hug her old friend.

"Well, I haven't seen you in ages, Elphie! How long has it been?" Galinda asked, joining her friend at the booth. Elphaba frowned.

"Graduation," she replied curtly.

"Oh, right," Galinda gasped. "Sorry, I didn't mean to bring anything tha-"

"It's fine, Galinda," Elphaba cut her off. "It was a long time ago, and I'm sure we've both moved on just fine."

"You mean you don't know?" Galinda asked.

"Know what?"

"Whether or not he moved on!"

"I'm almost so positive he's moved on, I'm practically pregnant… with triplets," Elphaba remarked. "But enough about the past, tell me what it's like to work with the Wizard!"

"Oh, Elphie!" Galinda gushed, immediately moving on. "It's absolutely splendorific! The gowns, the tiaras, and of course, I get to help all of Oz!"

The two best friends talk for about fifteen minute longer, as they sipped their tea. But eventually, Galinda had to (very reluctantly) excuse herself, as she needed to get back to the palace for a meeting.

"You have to come visit me sometime!" Galinda begged, giving Elphaba one last hug.

"I will," Elphaba promised, hugging her friend as tightly as possible.

When the two had finally parted ways, Elphaba remained at her booth, finishing her tea, before she decided it was time for her to get back home. She ordered one cappuccino to-go before turning to rush out the door, realizing that she was running a bit late. If she didn't hurry, she'd never be able to get home in these crowds.

She began shoving her way through the streets once more, before turning the corner, but was stopped as she ran into a person turning the opposite direction, and as a result, both of their coffees smashed into the person's chest before falling to the concrete along with Elphaba's bag.

"Shit!" Elphaba cursed, dropping to ground to gather her things. "I am so sorry; I should've been looking where I was-"

"Elphaba?" another shockingly familiar voice exclaimed. Elphaba froze.

_Crap_.

Looking up, she saw the one face she once wished she'd never see again. Above her was a coffee covered Fiyero Tiggular, in all his princely glory.

"Oh, it's you," Elphaba said dryly as she stood back up. "I guess I'll be taking back that sorry, then." Fiyero scoffed slightly.

"You can't really still be angry at me?" he asked lightly, though genuine curiosity shown through his sapphire eyes.

"Well, of course I am," Elphaba responded equally, before pushing past him. "You broke my heart, remember?"

Fiyero began to follow her, almost struggling to keep up with her as she turned into an alleyway.

"Where are you going?" he asked her, panting slightly.

"Home, there's no place like it," she answered, not even breaking a sweat.

"Don't you wanna catch up or something? Ya know, talk about the good old days?"

"You're kidding, right?" she asked, continuing down the long alley at her quick pace. Fiyero soon caught up to her and fell into step beside her.

"Um, that depends on whether or not kidding will convince you to forgive me," he responded, trying to flash a smile.

"Probably not, either way," Elphaba said, trying to keep her eyes away from his. Everyone knew that Elphaba's eyes were the gateway to her soul, and she refused to let Fiyero Tiggular see the pain in her eyes.

"Well, how can I make it up to you?" he asked.

"You could... go jump in a hole or something," she suggested lamely as they exited the alley and turned onto a quiet and calm street.

"That's a great idea and I'll have to try that sometime, but right now, I'm more occupied with bothering you," he laughed. At this point, the coffee that had spilled onto Fiyero's shirt had dried, resulting in a very unusual smell of coffee beans and cologne.

"Go away," she ordered, not amused.

"But if I went away, how would I know how to begin to earn your forgiveness?" he teased her.

"I'll tell you what, Tiggular-"

"Ooo, last name basis," he mocked her.

"-if you leave me alone, I'll forgive you," she told him.

"You mean it?" he asked, almost hopeful.

"Not really," she confessed. Fiyero frowned.

"I really _am_ sorry," he told her quietly, tugging on her arm gently, causing her to turn toward him.

"So why'd you do it in the first place?" she whispered, looking down at her shoes.

"I don't know… I was scared, I guess," he replied, wanting Elphaba to look him in the eyes, otherwise, he'd never know what she was thinking.

"You really hurt me," she murmured. "It's our nonexistent anniversary, by the way. So you're apologizing two years late?"

"Better late than never," Fiyero joked, attempting to lighten the mood.

"You always did have the tendency to be late to everything," Elphaba sighed sadly.

"I'd take it back if I could," he tried. Elphaba looked up at him.

"What part?" she snapped. "The part where you told me you loved me, or the part where you left me at the altar?"

"I'd take back the past two years and a day, because there is nothing, and I mean _nothing_, that I regret more, than abandoning you just when you'd finally trusted me completely," he said, appearing completely sincere.

"Where've you been these past two years then, huh? Why are you telling me this now?" Elphaba demanded, putting a hand on her hip.

"Well, in case you forgot, I'm a prince, and I've gotta be specially 'prepared' to become King of the Vinkus one day," Fiyero replied, frowning.

"Oh, yeah…" Elphaba murmured in distaste before continuing to walk. "Well, then I suppose these preparations include marriage?"

"Yes, actually, they do," he answered her, his face flushing. He knew that she was trying to get a rouse out of him, and in the past it had always worked. But not this time.

This time, he would remain calm.

"Oh, really?" Elphaba inquired, feigning casualty. "And who is the unfortunate young woman who's married to you?" Fiyero noticed that the comment stung a little, but replied without missing a beat.

"I'm not married... yet," he added quickly.

"Oh?" Elphaba asked, subconsciously relieved.

"Actually, yes," Fiyero confirmed, "I just… haven't really thought about marrying anyone since… you know."

"Yeah, I guess," Elphaba trailed off. "But at the same time, I don't really have any clue what you're talking about."

"Then let me explain," Fiyero offered.

"I have to get home."

"Tonight then," he pressed on. "Let me take you to the parade tonight."

"I hate parades," Elphaba stated flatly.

"Dinner," he responded hurriedly. Elphaba sighed.

"Fine," she relented.

Fiyero grinned.

"But this doesn't mean I forgive you just yet. I really need to get home. Dahyn is probably throwing a fit," the green girl said. Fiyero looked at her in confusion.

"Who's Dahyn?" he asked.

"My puppy," Elphaba replied shortly.

"Elphaba Thropp got a puppy?" he exclaimed, genuinely surprised.

Last time he'd properly to Elphaba, she'd claimed herself to be unable to care for a plot of flowers for a week before they all died. But a puppy? Puppies took constant caring for, and they cost more than a flower bed. When did Elphaba find the time and patience to raise a dog?

"Yeah, about a month ago," she replied shrugging, though her eyes sparkled with silent adoration for the canine. "Dahyn's not the smartest terrier in Oz, but she's certainly entertaining."

"Wow, I never thought I'd live to see the day…" he trailed off in wonder. When he noticed Elphaba looking at him with a confused look on her face, he quickly changed the subject back to the previous one.

"So, I'll meet you here at about six-thirty then?" Fiyero proposed. Elphaba pretended to think it over before nodding slowly. They were, at this point in their conversation, in a more upper-middle class looking part of town, and Fiyero assumed this was close to where Elphaba lived.

"Nothing fancy, Fiyero," she conditioned.

"Wouldn't dream of it," he replied.

"I can walk by myself from here, thank you," she told him. "My house is just over there." She pointed across the street to a small stone house.

"Oh," Fiyero murmured, disappointed that his walk with Elphaba was coming to a close.

"I'll see you tonight?" she asked, beginning to walk across the street without him.

"Definitely," he confirmed. Elphaba continued to her house, and as she got to the door she turned around to see that Fiyero was still staring after her. She rolled her eyes and entered her house to be greeted by a hyper-active Dahyn.

She supposed that no matter how much it seemed like she'd never be able to forgive Fiyero, she always would… time and time again.

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><p><strong>So, I guess that's it! Review, share, follow me on Twitter at MissJuliaCaesar, don't do drugs, eat more fiber, and keep dancing through.<strong>

**Fiyero: "LET US OUT OF THE CLOSET!"**

**Elphaba: "THE BROWN SKITTLE IS TALKING TO FIYERO!"**

**Brown Skittle: "..."**

**Fiyero: "That a bad word, Pippin!"**

***cough* REVIEW!**


	2. Chapter 2

**As promised, (to save the Vinkun Wildflowers) here is chapter 2 of Time and Time Again. Not gonna bother with an actually A/N, but basically, it's my Wicked Anniversary, reviews would make me extremely happy, please go view the other stories I'm putting up tonight, I love you, don't die, and keep dancing through.**

**OH YEAH AND REVIEW.**

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><p>"<em>Five minutes till showtime, buddy," Avaric announced, patting Fiyero on the shoulder. Fiyero straightened his tie in the mirror for what must've been the tenth time in the past thirty minutes.<em>

_He was getting married._

_No, it was more than that._

_He was getting married to Elphaba Thropp, his girlfriend of three years. The entire situation, he supposed, was a bit unusual. In a spark of impulsiveness, Fiyero and Elphaba had decided to wed a week before graduation. On any other day, Elphaba would have downright refused to get married before she and Fiyero finished their years at Shiz, but Fiyero had been very… persuasive._

_And so here he was, five minutes before he was to marry the love of his life, nothing separating him from his future except for a brick wall and five minutes._

"_This is so weird," Avaric commented bluntly._

"_Yeah, you're right," Fiyero agreed distantly. He was too busy being excited to be bothered by his friend's awkward attempts at conversation._

"_I mean, Prince Fiyero Tiggular is getting _married_," Avaric went on, despite Fiyero's obvious attempt to kill the conversation. "By his own freewill too."_

"_Yes, Avaric," Fiyero muttered, running his fingers through his dark brown hair._

"_Like, if I'd told you four years ago that you were going to eventually graduate and get married, you would've punched me in the face for suggesting that you'd defy your dancing through life motto… And ya know, you used to be with a different girl every night, be at a different school every month…"_

"_I get it, Avaric," Fiyero interrupted him. He didn't want to hear about his scandalacious past five minutes before he got married! But then, he considered, those days were pretty good._

"_Like, you're getting _married_. After this, you're gonna be like… a husband, man. And then you're gonna become _king_. No more going out to awesome parties every night of the week, no more being free to hook up with random chicks…"_

"_Yeah, I uh, guess you're right," Fiyero said, suddenly nervous. There's no way he'd have as much freedom to do whatever he wanted after tonight. Elphaba was possessive or anything, but he was pretty sure she wouldn't approve of him staying out late all night, doing who-knows-what. Maybe he wasn't ready to be tied down just yet…_

"_And after this, you're gonna get sucked into the preparations to become king, and you'll never have any real kind of conversation except for the ones with government officials, and that doesn't even really count, but hey, at least you'll have Elphaba. And then your kids when you have them which, ya know, is gonna need to be pretty soon. Those Vinkuns just have to have an heir to the throne…"_

_Whoa, whoa, whoa… Kids?_

"_I need to get out of here," Fiyero stated abruptly. He turned away from his reflection to see a surprised-looking Avaric._

"_What?" he asked, oblivious to the nervousness he'd caused for the groom-to-be._

"_I can't get married," Fiyero panicked. He quickly pulled off his tuxedo jacket and grabbed the clothes he'd been wearing earlier._

"_And where do you plan on going? Practically everyone you know is out there!" Avaric stressed._

"_I dunno, I'll lay low for a few days, then return to Shiz for graduation," he said, continuing to go around the room, collecting his belongings and stuffing them into his bag._

"_But what about Elphaba?" Avaric interrupted, putting a hand on Fiyero's shoulder and causing him to stop midstride._

"_I'll… write her a note or something. I'm sure she'll understand! I just need to buy some time," he replied, pushing past his friend._

"_You know that this will crush her right?" Avaric continued to try and make Fiyero see reason._

"_She'll get over it."_

"_Uh, no, she won't. It took her a year before she let you take her out on a _date_, Fiyero. And if you leave now, you might as well stab her a million and one times in the face!"_

"_She's a big girl. I'm sure she'll find some way to distract herself," Fiyero argued half-heartedly. He didn't have time for this. The longer he stayed here, the closer he got to total imprisonment._

"_Fiyero!" Avaric finally yelled out of frustration. But Fiyero was out the door, running to who-knows-where._

When Fiyero had finished his story, it took all of Elphaba's willpower to not find Avaric, wherever he was in Oz, and beat him to a pulp right then and there. But she had more questions, and she'd waited too long for them to be answered.

"Where did you go?" she finally asked after several moments of agonizing silence for Fiyero.

"I went to the Emerald City for a few days," he answered. "Then I went back to the Vinkus to let my parents know I wasn't dead, and then I went back to Shiz for graduation."

"Oh. So, you were just… nervous?" Elphaba questioned numbly.

"It was more than just nerves, Elphaba," Fiyero rushed to say. "It was like, everything I knew came crashing down, and I realized that my future as a king of the Vinkus wasn't as crystal clear as I thought it was."

"What about at graduation?" she asked.

"That was… Well, that was just me being a jerk," he confessed shamefully.

"Thought so."

"How did you… ya know, find out I had um, left?" Fiyero asked, not really wanting the answer. But he and Elphaba needed to put some pieces together, and now seemed like the perfect time.

They were sitting in a quaint restaurant just outside the City. The place was almost empty, since anyone who was anyone was at the parade. When Fiyero had gone to pick up Elphaba, he could see the expression in her eyes that was almost close to shock. Did she really consider that he'd stand her up? He wouldn't have been surprised. She wasn't dressed up, and this was one occasion when they'd gone out together that Galinda hadn't attack Elphaba with eyelash curlers.

"Oh, that was not a good moment for me," Elphaba sighed in response.

_Elphaba looked at herself in the mirror smiling brighter than she'd ever smiled before. She was getting married, and in less than a few minutes! Naturally, she'd had her reservations at first, but Fiyero had finally… convinced her to marry him before graduation… And to marry him at all._

"_Oh, Elphie! I can't believe you and Fiyero are finally going to be married today!" Galinda squealed. "It's all just so fantastical-istic, isn't it? Like a fairytale!"_

"_If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were the one getting married today, not me," Elphaba tried to state dryly, but failed. She couldn't even pretend to be in a sour mood right now. She couldn't be moody knowing that in an hour, she would be married to Fiyero._

_She looked down at her white dress with with of admiring. She'd been very anti-white dress because she was afraid of it clashing with her skin, but Galinda was a miracle worker, and found the perfect dress. It was simple enough; strapless, long, with only a few carefully places layers encircling her waist._

"_Oh, don't even try to dampen my mood! This is so-" Galinda begins to go on her rant again, but is interrupted by a knock on the door. "Coming!" she sang._

_Elphaba watched in the mirror reflection as Galinda opened the door to a stiff looking Avaric._

"_Avaric, what are doing here?" Galinda asked him quickly. "Did Fiyero send you? Just let him know that Elphaba looks absolutely beautiful. He's only got to wait a few more min-"_

"_Galinda!" Avaric interrupted, his voice shaking. "Can I speak to you out in the hall for a moment?" At his grim tone, Galinda's face became serious, and she nodded._

_When she'd closed the door, Elphaba quickly shuffled in her dress towards the door to eavesdrop. However, there was no need for it. She was sure that anyone could hear Galinda's furious screams across the street._

_She sighed lightly, assuming it was just a wardrobe or decoration malfunction. Galinda had spent weeks planning this wedding, and, as if the wedding were her own, she insisted on making sure that every little detail was perfect._

"_ARE YOU OZ-DAMNED KIDDING ME? WHY THE FU-" Galinda began to screech some more but was promptly cut off by Avaric whispering into her ear. After a few moments of silence, Galinda let out the loudest scream she'd ever produced:_

"_**YOU WHAT?" **_

_Elphaba covered her ears. _Whoever screwed up the flower arrangement Galinda's throwing a fit about_, she internally snickered and she returned to her reflection, _is going to die a painful death.

_She heard Galinda scream profanities out of anger that she hadn't even known that Galinda knew existed! Minutes of the screaming passed, with her alternating between pounding on the wall and stomping angrily on the floor. But then the screaming stopped. And it was perfectly silent out in the hallway._

_The door opened and Galinda entered, her hair messed up, her makeup smeared, and the heel on her left shoe broken. Elphaba whipped around and and hurried toward her friend._

"_Galinda," she exclaimed, "what happened?"_

"_Elphaba…" Galinda sighed. "It's Fiyero."_

"_What's wrong?" Elphaba asked, her heart skipping several beats. "What's wrong? Is he hurt? Galinda, answer me!"_

"_He's um," she hesitated, "he's… Avaric just told me that…"_

"_For Oz sakes, Galinda, spit it out!" Elphaba yelled, putting her hands on the blonde's shoulders._

"_He's gone!" she sobbed, burying her face into her hands._

"_What? What do you mean he's gone?" Elphaba asked._

"_Avaric said that all of a sudden, Fiyero just collected his stuff and ran out of the building!" Galinda cried out, her makeup running down her face. Elphaba looked at her blankly._

"_Oh."_

"_I'm so sorry, Elphie! I don't know why he would do that he just- What are you doing?" she asked as she saw Elphaba taking her hair down from its elaborate style atop her head._

"_What does it look like I'm doing?" she asked, her voice surprisingly emotionless. "I'm getting my hair out of this stupid bun."_

"_Elphie, I-"_

"_Would you help me get out of this ridiculous dress? I swear, if it were any tighter, I'd suffocate."_

"_Are you alri-"_

"_I'll be absolutely fine once I get out of this dress. Now would you please help me?" Elphaba asked again, trying without success to unzip the zipper on the back of her dress. Galinda slowly began to help her friend out of the dress, preparing for her to break down at any moment._

_When Elphaba was back in her normal clothes, she turned to Galinda with a raised eyebrow._

"_You okay?" she asked casually. Galina choked on a sob._

"_Elphie, I know you're shocked but-"_

"_In case you haven't noticed, Galinda, you're the one crying here. Not me," Elphaba pointed out coldly. Galinda immediately stiffened with a frown._

"_Fine," she said, head raised in defiance. "I'll just leave you be then. Have fun being a lonely, emotionless witch." When Galinda had stomped out of the room, Elphaba turned back to the mirror, braiding her long hair back into its simple braid._

_Behind her, the vase holding a bouquet roses, shattered brilliantly. The flowers, now spread out across the room, wilted and cracked. Elphaba looked down with a bitter eye at her tangled hair to see that her knuckles were almost completely white. _

He left.

_The mirror in front of her cracked all around the edges, and as she sank to the ground, Elphaba let out a sob._

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><p><strong>OH NO HE DI-INT! Haha, so umm, just an FYI, I AM IN FACT posting a third chapter, probably more, I dunno. And I think I'll include graduation but I'm not sure.<strong>

**OH AND SORRY IT'S TAKEN ME SO LONG TO UPDATE BUT YOU KNOW HOW IT IS: I GOT BORED. =P**

**REVIEW PLEASEEE **


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry, it's taken so long to update, but I only just now had the adequate time to finish so please excuse any and all mistakes. =P**

**3 you and reviews!**

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><p>It wasn't until 9 o'clock that Elphaba gave in and let (a slightly drunk) Fiyero walk her home. Luckily for her, this drunken Fiyero was much better behaved than the drunken Fiyero back at Shiz was. When he'd said goodnight to her for the twentieth time, Elphaba watched as he walked (strutted is more of an appropriate word, Elphaba thought) back to whatever hotel he was staying at for his trip.<p>

Besides the inevitably painful flashbacks, the night had been relatively uneventful. They had a small dinner and a few drinks (or several in Fiyero's case), but nothing more. Well, she was pretty sure that Fiyero had tried to drunkenly kiss her, but that hardly counted. The majority of Fiyero's scandalacious-ness came from his drunken personality.

_"CHUG CHUG CHUG CHUG CHUG!" a group of random Shiz students shouted to Fiyero who wasn't even flinching as he consumed a glass of some extremely strong whiskey. They cheered as he finished what appeared to Elphaba as his fifth glass._

_"Hey, Elphie!" Fiyero shouted across the room to Elphaba, who was only there as a favor to Galinda. The blonde would've been here herself as designated driver for the Vinkun prince, but she was at Shiz with a terrible stomach virus. Even though she and Fiyero had broken up the year prior, they still seemed to be just as close as before, which would never cease to confuse the green girl._

_Elphaba looked up from her book and self-consciously scooted away from a man who'd recently passed out in the seat beside her. She tried her best to ignore Fiyero, but he swaggered over to her and plopped down in the seat opposite from her. He leaned over the table drunkenly._

_"So, I've been thinking-"_

_"You only do when you're drunk," she added sarcastically, but he didn't notice in his drunken stupor._

_"-that you… Elphaba… You are… bee-oo-tee-full," he finished, added emphasis to each syllable._

_"And you're intoxicated. Let's get you back to your house," Elphaba replied, stuffing her book into her bag before standing up._

_"I don't… I don't really wanna go back to… Where did you… say?" he asked, latching onto Elphaba's arm dizzily as he stood up._

_"If you pass out, I'm leaving you here."_

_"I'm jusssss fine," he slurred._

_"Oz, how many drinks did you have?" Elphaba asked when Fiyero's hip bumped into a table corner. He groaned and placed a hand on his side, but didn't let out the swear words that were dying to be released._

_"I don't think that Oz drinks liquor, Elphie-bah-bah-black sheep."_

_"If you weren't drunk, I'd kill you, ya know that right?"_

_"You wanna… make-out?" he asked. Elphaba froze, blushing._

_"Shut up," she replies after a moment of internal frustration._

_Even if he _wasn't_ drunker than Elphaba had ever seen him, she'd have to ignore the question. She'd sworn never to even think about the silly crush she'd had on him a year ago. I'm over it, I'm over it, I'm over it, she chanted in her mind. And it was partially true, too. It had finally gotten to the point where she could have entire conversations and arguments without her getting lost in those big, beautiful, brown eyes…._

_But she was definitely over it now._

_"Elphie-pie," Fiyero whined as they walked out of the bar parking lot, "why don't you liiikeee me anyyyymorreee?"_

_"There are so many different ways I could answer that question," Elphaba mumbled, half-dragging, half-supporting Fiyero's weight._

_"We should go on a date. I think we'd be a really cute couple. And you'd look great in a wedding dress."_

_Elphaba had never seen Fiyero this drunk. Well, yes she had. But when he had been, he wasn't bothering her. He was off dancing in some ridiculous manner that reminded her of a giraffe running around with its arms in the air. And of course, she didn't think he'd ever been drunk enough to flirt with a girl who _wasn't_ blonde and beautiful._

_"I'll tell you what, Fifi," she replied with a disapproving frown, "if you're not too hungover to remember this in the morning, I'll marry you whenever you want."_

_"Awesome. I'm thinking…. Evening wedding, eh?" he asked, drunkenly assuming that he'd remember this, no problem. "Early summer?"_

_"Sure, Fiyero," Elphaba replied, her voice blank, but her face red. What's the harm in humoring them both? He won't remember this anyway._

_"We'll have lots of alcohol at the reception… Heh heh royal Vinkun beer!" he laughed, more loudly than appropriate._

_In no time, Elphaba and Fiyero had finally made it back to his house. Fiyero was sorely disappointed, as his plans had only stretched as far as the Wizard of Oz appearing at the ceremony. Elphaba, however, felt nothing but relief. She didn't care how sick Galinda was; next time, the blonde was bringing him. She'd only spent one night of tolerance with him, and he'd already planned the majority of their wedding, drunk or not._

_"Okay, can I trust you to not leave this house for the rest of the night?" Elphaba asked as she snatched Fiyero's keys out of his fumbling hands and unlocked the door herself._

_"Elphieee, iss gonna be all good."_

_The afternoon after her deal with an intoxicated Fiyero, Elphaba sat in a booth of a café just off campus reading a book, trying to block out Boq's frantic mutters as he studied a textbook._

_"Boq, why are you still studying?" Elphaba groaned as she slapped the book down on the table in frustration. "The test was _yesterday_, for crying out loud!"_

_"I have to check my answers," he replied, looking up. "It'll be days before Dillamond is finished grading all those papers."_

_"Hello, Elphaba," Fiyero voice greeted smoothly as he slipped into the bench beside her, placing his arm around her shoulders._

_"Good morning, party boy," she returned with a sarcastic edge, swiping his arm away. Fiyero feigned a hurt look._

_"Now, Elphie, is that really any way to treat your fiancé?" he smirks. The coffee Boq had been drinking was then sprayed onto the table in a way that Fiyero found pretty comical. Elphaba's eyes were wide as she stared forward in horror._

_"Excuse me?" she choked out, still frozen._

_"I was thinking that we may as well go on a date when I'm not intoxicated to finish up the little details like our vows and stuff," Fiyero carried on casually, grinning at both of them._

_"You- you were- I'm not going to _marry_ you!" Elphaba sputtered._

_"Ah, but you promised," Fiyero pointed out, not missing a beat._

_"But you were drunk!" Elphaba screeched, drawing the attention of several people at nearby tables._

_"Again, I like to think that the proper term is 'intoxicated,'" Fiyero replied quietly._

_"You were drunk," Elphaba assured him, blushing._

_"That doesn't lessen the values of your promise, does it, Elphie? I was really looking forward to it," he adds, a mixture of sincerity and teasing layering his voice._

_"Someone, explain to me what is happening right now," Boq squeaked, eyes wide in what was either shock or horror._

_"Elphaba said she'd marry me if I remembered her promise in the morning," Fiyero answered, grinning. Boq gaped at him._

_"You're not serious!" he asked, leaning over the table._

_"Why shouldn't I be?" was Fiyero's smooth reply._

_"Fiyero, just forget it, okay?" Elphaba moaned into her hand that was now covering her face._

_"But you said-" Fiyero protested before Elphaba glared at him._

_"I said forget it!" she snapped at him, standing up swiftly, book in hand. Fiyero stood up, his attitude suddenly serious, and chased her half a block down the street, away from a confused Boq._

_"Elphaba! Come on! I'm sorry," he huffed, running after her. She stopped her brisk walking abruptly, and turned towards him._

_"You embarrassed me in front of all those people," she accused him blankly as he caught up to her._

_"You and I both know that you don't care about what other people think," Fiyero huffed. Elphaba glared at him._

_"There's a difference between not caring and not showing that you care, idiot," she spat._

_"Listen, I was just kidding about the marriage thing," was Fiyero's sighed reply. "You don't have to marry me-"_

_"Obviously," Elphaba snapped, pushing her glasses up on her nose._

_"-But I really would like it if we could go on a date," Fiyero finished quietly. Elphaba narrowed her eyes at him._

_"Together?"_

_"Yeah."_

_"The two of us?"_

_"Preferably."_

_"Romantically?"_

_"Irrevocably."_

_"You don't even know what that word means, do you?" Elphaba asked, rolling her eyes. Fiyero shrugged._

_"Maybe you could teach me the proper usage… Wednesday night?" Fiyero asked, a hopeful look in his eyes. It reminded Elphaba of the way Galinda tended to talk about Boq nowadays. Ever since he'd invited her to his home for Lurlinemas, she couldn't stop talking about him, and his mother's amazing cooking, and how subtly romantic it all was. It was the look that said, 'I won't force anything to happen, but I'd owe the universe a million huge favors if it could do this one thing for me.'_

_The look, on Fiyero, frightened Elphaba slightly. It wasn't in his nature to look so sincere or so desperate. But she sighed, nodding. Before Fiyero could do his happy dance, she held up a stern finger._

_"On three conditions," she warned, though the Prince was already nodding enthusiastically. "One, we meet _here_. You do _not_ pick me up. Two, I'm not going to dress up, so you might as well where your ridiculous white pants-"_

_"Hey, most girls worship those pants," he said defensively, but lightly._

_"Well, I'm not 'most girls,'" Elphaba quipped._

_"Yeah, yeah yeah," Fiyero agreed impatiently. "What's the third condition?"_

_"Galinda cannot find out about this. She'll make a huge commotion out of it." Fiyero nodded in understanding while he bit back a remark about her mention of "commotions." Elphaba held out her hand formally._

_"So we have a deal?" she asked finally. While Fiyero felt more like he was sealing a business contract than arranging a date with a girl – a beautiful girl, no less – he grabbed her hand and kissed the top of it suavely. Well, he thought it was suave, but Elphaba just seemed a bit confused. She nodded stiffly before striding away, leaving a love-stricken Vinkun prince behind._

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><p><strong>Aw, how sweet. I've always wanted to do that kind of scene. =) So, I'm in the market for some flashback ideas (vinkunwildflowerqueen knows what's going down with that now) so if any of you readers and reviews and you fleets of dementors, and you giants, and you thestrals, and all of Voldemort's death eaters have any suggestions or funny bits you want to see, let me know!<strong>

**REVIEWS ARE LOVELY! 3**


	4. Chapter 4

**This very late chapter is dedicated to Carlie who suggested this topic and honestly I can't even remember why I let her choose it (probably something to do with Feb. 16, IDK). Anyway, this is her temporary birthday (May 23rd) (Yah, I know when your birthday is now) (Pwnd) (Also, it's the day the water park here opens but that's irrelevant mostly...)**

**Right, so Carlie, I love you, Vinkun Wildflower, hahaha, Boq's balls, hope you enjoy the chapter. Please excuse any and all mistakes. I refuse to correct them until you update.**

**Hardcore.**

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><p>The note was under a vase in her kitchen, the same place it'd been since she moved into this house. It had been folded every which way, and the bottom left corner had been burned off. The writing was was sloppy anyway, but the smudge marks only caused it to be more illegible. Not that it mattered. Elphaba had memorized it long ago.<p>

_Elphaba-_

_I can't do this. I've been thinking, and I just **can't** do this right now. It's not anything you did, I promise. I love you and I always will, but I'm not ready to marry you. I hope you can forgive me._

_I love you,  
>Fiyero<em>

For months after she found the note, Elphaba wondered what the most heartbreaking part of it was. Was it the fact that he called her Elphaba instead of Fae – a name they'd both grown accustomed to? Was it the clipped sentences and the overuse of the word 'I'? Was it the fact that it was, simply, a break-up letter? Or was it, and Elphaba thought this was the most feasible, that he had the nerve to say "I love you," as his parting words?

Over the course of their relationship, there wasn't any particular reason to say the words every day, or even every week. Their exchanges of the words weren't used in desperate situations or fight, but rather, they were saved for moments when nothing was wrong in their lives. "I love you," was said during a long hug after a date. It was said between moments of laughter and teasing.

This "I love you," was not a statement made from a man who truly believed he loved her. This was a last hope at forgiveness, "I love you." This was a plea. A cry of desperation. It was an apology. It was the exact opposite of what it'd been the first time he's said that he loved her.

_"…and then Milla got really angry and told me that I should shove the shoe-"_

_"Galinda, this story isn't making me any more comfortable with the fact that you're waving a curling iron around," Elphaba interrupted, looking up from her History homework. Galinda glanced at the iron before shrugging and going back to her curling._

_"Well, I wouldn't be doing my own hair if you would let me do yours for your date tonight," she huffed. The blonde had been nagging Elphaba all day about how with a little bit more wave in her hair, she'd be the most beautiful girl on campus – excluding herself, of course._

_With a roll of her eyes, Elphaba replied, "We're just getting some coffee. I don't need my hair done up."_

_"Matter of opinion…" she heard Galinda mutter. A brisk tapping on the door interrupted Elphaba's laughing._

_"Hey," the green girl breathed as she opened the door to find her boyfriend standing expectedly on the other side. Fiyero feigned disappointment._

_"Didn't Galinda want to do your hair tonight?" he whined. Elphaba cackled as she grabbed her bag while Galinda scowled at them both._

_"You go ahead and laugh now-"_

_"We will!" Elphaba chuckled._

_"-But one day, you'll wish you'd have let me fix you up a little bit!" Galinda shouted vengefully as the room's door closed._

_"Do you think we're too mean?" Fiyero asked as the two of them strolled through campus, hands to themselves._

_"She'll get over it by the time I get back. Trust me, she'll be wanting to know all the _excruciating details_," Elphaba replied sarcastically._

_The two walked, arms linked, to a nearby chain coffee shop. In the morning, there could be a line of college students waiting for their coffee fix that trailed right out the door. But now, in the late evening, Fiyero and Elphaba were almost alone._

_"You'd better go grab us a seat before this place gets more crowded," Fiyero told Elphaba sarcastically. The two laughed before Fiyero continued, "Nah, seriously. You go ahead and get a table. I'll order our drinks… What do you want?"_

_"Yero, we come here four days a week," Elphaba remarked blankly. "How do you not know my order?"_

_"It's like… You like... coffee, right? With… sugar?" he guessed weakly, giving her a pleading look. He was embarrassed, to say the least. You'd think that after acing almost half his classes (a huge improvement upon his grades that shocked everyone), Fiyero would have better luck with memorizing something as trivial as a drink order. But alas, it turned out (in Fiyero's reasoning mind) that the better you got at school, the worse you got at life._

_"Decaf," Elphaba corrected good naturedly._

_Fiyero cursed under his breath as Elphaba walked to a booth awkwardly. "Can't do anything right… Might as well be a sack of straw…"_

_After paying for and receiving the drinks, Fiyero headed over to Elphaba with a slightly sheepish expression._

_"Oh, please," Elphaba almost scoffed, "I'm not actually bothered by a drink order."_

_"But I should know it, shouldn't I?" Fiyero snapped, stirring the cream into his own coffee begrudgingly. "We've been dating for five months. I don't even know your favorite _color_, for Oz sakes!"_

_"Green," Elphaba plainly said, though there was a wide grin on her face. Fiyero sipped on his coffee somberly in response. "Come on, Yero. You know me plenty. And Oz knows you've told me every unimportant detail in your past dating escapades – most of them against my will… Where's this coming from?"_

_Fiyero sighed. "My parents keep talking about my future as king in their letters," he answered quietly, looking down at his drink. "They keep mentioning all this political stuff I have to know and… I don't even know the most basic stuff about my girlfriend, you know? How am I supposed to run a country if I can't order coffee for my girlfriend?"_

_"You'll run it quite well after banning coffee in the Vinkus," Elphaba replied with an easy smile. "And then you'll just have to worry about remembering everything else, like the names of your kids."_

_Fiyero laughed a bit at that, and Elphaba smiled softly to herself._

_"I love you," he blurted out, with a goofy smile on his face. Elphaba, in shock, spat her coffee back into the cup. With a loud gag, she looked at him with wide eyes. Suddenly, she started laughing._

_"That's not funny," she cackled, wiping a nonexistent tear from her eye. "Damn, you almost had me there."_

_"I'm serious. I'm in love with you, Fae," Fiyero said bluntly, looking at her with a purer look than she'd ever seen in his eyes._

_"You're serious," Elphaba stated, though her face was covered in confusion._

_"I'm serious," he confirmed, still grinning widely._

_"Are you sure?"_

_"Absolutely."_

_"Alright then…" she said, nodding as she breathed deeply. "Okay."_

_"Okay."_

_"Okay."_

_"Okay?" Fiyero asked._

_"Okay," Elphaba repeated._

_"Are you getting ready to faint?" he asked warily. Elphaba's eyes were looking past his head, as if gazing at something far away. With a shake of her head, she snapped back into reality._

_"Of course not," she said tartly._

_"So then do you want to… say it back?" Fiyero asked awkwardly, scratching the back of his head with one hand, holding his coffee cup with the other. Elphaba looked at him with a raised eyebrow._

_"Say what?"_

_"I love you."_

_"I love you... too?"_

_"Wait, really?" Fiyero asked, his face lighting up. Elphaba blushed slightly as she stirred her coffee. "You mean it?"_

_"Am I someone who would joke about this kind of thing?" she asked vacantly, even though her face was quickly turning from green to pink._

_"Uh, no, no of course not… I just… Well, it's a nice thought," he said, obviously flustered._

_"Wait until Galinda finds out," Elphaba said with a nod. "I'll never hear the end of it."_

_"You talk about it like it's a curse," Fiyero accused her, smiling regardless._

_"Well, just promise me that this won't change anything," Elphaba conditions. "It's an 'I love you,' today, but tomorrow it could very well be a marriage proposal."_

_"Oh, Oz," he sighed miserably. "You're already so expectant. Can I take what I said back? Ya know, that thing about loving you?"_

_"No, you may not," Elphaba replied with a laugh. "You're stuck with me forever, I'm afraid."_

_"Damn you, mouth. Always saying things," Fiyero swears, pounding his fist on the table._

_Their sarcastic banter went on for twenty minutes longer before Elphaba looked down at her watch._

_"I have a final in the morning. I should probably be getting back," she said._

_The walk back to Elphaba's room seemed shorter than usual. But it was no different than the other times they'd walked back after a date hand in hand. But it was. Fiyero knew it, Elphaba knew it. Oz, even Galinda knew it. There was something different in the air. Nobody could put their finger on it just yet. Everyone was happy._

_But then a heart stopped._


End file.
